joe__gee writes, CNN is reporting that the Doctor will return in 2005. The producer of the new series is promising a contemporary update that “embraces the Doctor Who heritage.” Insert obligatory “I’m glad Rick Berman isn’t involved with this” here. I’m actually looking forward to this. I’m friends with a lot of Dr. Who fans and maybe this’ll be a way for me to get into the series.

8 Comments

joe__geeSeptember 26, 2003 @ 10:13 am

I’d like Paul McGann to return as the Doctor …
I thought he was capable, his Doctor was sufficiently quirky, and he’s continued to do the Doctor’s voice on the BBC audio programs. If the producers of the new series decide to recast the role, who would other people cast? Who’s your dream Doctor?

-Joe G.

joe__geeSeptember 26, 2003 @ 10:20 am

Correction … Audio programs featured Richard E. Grant.

I thought he was capable, his Doctor was sufficiently quirky, and he’s continued to do the Doctor’s voice on the BBC audio programs. If the producers of the new series decide to recast the role, who would other people cast? Who’s your dream Doctor?

Re: Correction … Audio programs featured Richard E. Grant.
Does anyone else not give a damn about the audio versions of Doctor Who? I only care about the show, and I have no interest in the audio series or, for that matter, the books. Am I alone on this?

As for the new show, my only concern is that it uphold the Doctor Who tradition. I don’t mind new innovations, but the basic outline is already cast in stone. I’m gay myself, so you might think I want to see gay characters in the new show, because of the QAF connection. Actually, I think the charming thing about the show is that there is little or no reference to any kind of sexuality. I’m not a prude, but I think this is how it should be with Doctor Who.

OffdoOctober 16, 2003 @ 7:17 pm

Re: I’d like Paul McGann to return as the Doctor …
Okay, I have some pretty off the wall ideas on that. I’m a lifetime fan who saw “The Talons of Weng Chiang” in a dark living room when I was four. After that, I was hooked. As far as my dream Doctor, I think they should bring back Sylvester McCoy, first of all. But I could live with Paul McGann. I think Atkinson was pretty good, I could see that. No way on Grant. As for others who aren’t connected with the show, I think if Micheal Richards (who played Kramer on Seinfeld) could perfect a flawless English accent, he would be perfect as the Doctor. (that’s the off the wall part.) The accent would have to be perfect, though.

mbourgonSeptember 26, 2003 @ 1:19 pm

Please let it not suck, please let it not suck, please…
My only concern is one of the head guys behind the new show is the creator of Queer As Folk. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the show, and supposedly BBC approached him since he’s a huge fan. I want it to be Doctor Who, though, and not some “reimagining” or “reinterpretation” of the series. I don’t mind having modern-day issues covered, but I don’t want it to get preachy. This is not me being homophobic, I just want it to be a frickin sci-fi show and not some social parable.

[setup]Is that so wrong?[/setup]

vanyelSeptember 26, 2003 @ 4:06 pm

Re: Please let it not suck, please let it not suck, please…

My only concern is one of the head guys behind the new show is the creator of Queer As Folk. … This is not me being homophobic, I just want it to be a frickin sci-fi show and not some social parable.

[setup]Is that so wrong?[/setup]

aside: what’s with this new forced width format here? I hate it when web sites force me to arrange my windows *their* way only!

Just because he made a great gay-oriented show doesn’t mean he would do that to the doctor. The reason he would be good is that he knows that it’s the story that makes a show good. QAF wove a number number of threads together with a lot of character development (even more so on the American version, which has had a lot more time to do so). Though I would like to see a few gay characters show up now and again, they ought to know they’ll be hung out to dry if they mess with the formula too much.

One thing he might do is make it more of a serial than episodic, which I wouldn’t think would be a bad thing, as you can do much more complex and interesting stories that way, but it would be a pretty major change to the formula.
Not being one of the Doctoral equivalents to a Trekkie, I’m curious what others think though…

joe__geeSeptember 26, 2003 @ 4:27 pm

Re: Please let it not suck, please let it not suck, please…

One thing he might do is make it more of a serial than episodic, which I wouldn’t think would be a bad thing, as you can do much more complex and interesting stories that way, but it would be a pretty major change to the formula.
Not being one of the Doctoral equivalents to a Trekkie, I’m curious what others think though…

I always saw Doctor Who as being highly serialized. For a while my local PBS station showed one original block every evening to fill a half hour. The two, two and a half hour long shows that Doctor Who became here in the U.S. happened when the individual serialized episodes were edited together. I can think of several times when the Doctor’s adventures just segued into the next story with no American-style conclusion, just a “now what?” kind of ending.

I’d love to see BBC America show a half hour once a week. Actually I’d love to see the original series back on Sci Fi.

-Joe G.

JimPooleySeptember 27, 2003 @ 1:34 am

Re: Please let it not suck, please let it not suck, please…

My only concern is one of the head guys behind the new show is the creator of Queer As Folk. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the show, and supposedly BBC approached him since he’s a huge fan.

He is a fan of the series, that’s well known. The original series of Queer as Folk had a character which was a Dr. Who fan and various references were scattered in.

The main thing is this: Not only is Russell Davies a bloody good screen writer, but he’s also got a real love of the source material. He’s a FAN! He wants to make Dr. Who the way fans want it, the way it was when it was at its best.